Cloud based activity monitor for human powered vehicle

ABSTRACT

A device is provided. The device is an electronic device configured to attach to a human-powered vehicle. The electronic device is further configured to perform actions. The actions include producing position coordinates based on global positioning system data and coupling to a network via a wireless connection. The actions include relaying the position coordinates to the network via the wireless connection. In some embodiments the electronic device is integrated with a bicycle.

BACKGROUND

Bicycles have long been touted as among the most efficient machines everdevised. Accessories for bicycles generally perform individual functionsand are not well-integrated with other accessories. For example, theftprevention generally relies on mechanical locks, which are bulky andclumsy to attach and carry with a bicycle. Electronic speedometers forbicycles don't provide any theft prevention, and information from themis not readily downloaded to a user system for personal use. Globalpositioning system (GPS) components made for bicycles are easily stolen,separately or with the bicycle to which each is attached. Cell phonescan be mounted to bicycles, but are likewise easily stolen separately orwith the bicycle. Fleet managers for rental bicycles rely on manualrecord-keeping and credit card deposits from customers to ensure returnsof bicycles. Therefore, in light of disparate challenges and the stateof bicycle accessories today, there is a need in the art for a solutionwhich overcomes the drawbacks described above.

SUMMARY

A device is provided. The device is an electronic device configured toattach to a human-powered vehicle. The electronic device is furtherconfigured to perform actions. The actions include producing positioncoordinates based on global positioning system data and coupling to anetwork via a wireless connection. The actions include relaying theposition coordinates to the network via the wireless connection. In someembodiments the electronic device is integrated with a bicycle.

Other aspects and advantages of the embodiments will become apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the described embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The described embodiments and the advantages thereof may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings in no waylimit any changes in form and detail that may be made to the describedembodiments by one skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the described embodiments.

FIG. 1A is a system diagram, showing bicycles equipped with embodimentsof the bike GPS (global positioning system) device, communicatingposition coordinates to a server via a cellular telephonic network and aglobal communication network in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an embodiment of the bike GPS device ofFIG. 1A in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1C is a perspective view of a wireless key fob, which activates anddeactivates an alarm function of the bike GPS device of FIGS. 1A and 1Bin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an embodiment of the bike GPS deviceattached to a water bottle mount of a bicycle frame in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of an in-frame mounting of an embodimentof the bike GPS device, featuring a hatch.

FIG. 2C is a perspective view of a further embodiment of an in-framemounting of the bike GPS device.

FIG. 3 is a front view of graphical user interfaces used incommunication with the bike GPS device in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an embodiment of the bike GPS device,featuring a case in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4B is a combination side view and top view of the case of the bikeGPS device of FIG. 4A in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4C is a perspective view of a populated printed circuit board of anembodiment of the bike GPS device.

FIG. 4D is a bottom view of the populated printed circuit board of thebike GPS device of FIG. 4C in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram of a cloud service provider communicatingwith users, applications, and devices of the bike GPS device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is an hierarchical diagram showing organization of a tenant,missions, and individual systems, applicable to embodiments of the bikeGPS device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an hierarchical diagram showing organization of users of thebike GPS device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is an illustration showing a computing device which may implementthe embodiments described herein.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing a method of monitoring a bicycle, whichcan be practiced using embodiments of the bike GPS device.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing a method for tracking bicycles, whichcan be practiced using embodiments of the bike GPS device.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a method for bicycle theft preventionand recovery, which can be practiced using embodiments of the bike GPSdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of a bike GPS (global positioning system) device mounted toa bicycle, or other human-powered machine, transforming the bike into acloud-connected platform that delivers immediate benefits to cyclists,bike manufacturers, and managers of bike sharing fleets. Bikeperformance analytics, theft prevention and location tracking are amongthe services and functions that the bike GPS device provides andsupports. Various mountings are possible, with one embodiment mountingat the water bottle site on a bicycle frame, and one embodiment mountinginto the bike frame, e.g., inside a frame tube. Versions of the bike GPSdevice feature various combinations of a processing engine with variousfunctions, a GPS receiver, and one or more wireless communication unitscommunicating via cellular telephone networks, machine-to-machineprotocol, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity, also known as wirelesslocal area network or WLAN), and/or a bike area network. Embodimentsalso feature various combinations of sensors, including anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, an altimeter, a temperature sensor, a signalstrength sensor, an air quality sensor, and bike and cyclist performancesensors such as a power meter, cadence monitor, heart rate monitor,speed sensor, etc. Some embodiments have a built-in display, batterymanagement, and/or an alarm unit. These and further features, andoperations thereof are discussed below, with reference to FIGS. 1-11. Itshould be appreciated that the bike GPS device may be referred to as acloud based activity monitor for a bicycle as the device can supportnumerous functionality besides GPS functionality as described in moredetail below.

FIG. 1A is a system diagram, showing bicycles 102, 104, 106 equippedwith embodiments of the bike GPS device, communicating positioncoordinates to a server 114 via a cellular telephonic network 108 and aglobal communication network 112. The bike GPS devices are receivingglobal positioning system data from the global positioning systemsatellites 110 (part of the global navigation satellite system or GNSS),processing the GPS data to produce GPS-based position coordinates,collecting and processing further information relating to the bicycles102, 104, 106, and relaying this information via a cellular telephonicnetwork 108 to a cell phone 176, or via the cellular telephonic network108 and a global communication network 112 to a cloud server 114 and/ora user device 118. Position coordinates can be applied by a bike GPSdevice, the cell phone 176, the cloud server 114, or the user device 118for tracking a path 170 of the bicycle 102, or for establishinggeo-fencing 172 of the bicycle 106 for theft prevention. One or moresensors, and data therefrom, can be applied by a bike GPS device, a cellphone 176, the cloud server 114, or the user device 118 for detectingand tracking acceleration, movement, angle, altitude or othermotion-based aspects 174 of the bicycle 104. The bike GPS devices couldalso communicate with one another, for example on a group ride or forfleet management, or as part of a mesh network, with each bike acting asa node in a network. Further, each bike GPS device could communicatewith other wireless devices on that particular bicycle, as part of abike area network.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an embodiment of the bike GPS device 120of FIG. 1A. Further embodiments of the bike GPS device 120 could havefewer components, additional components, or some of the components couldbe integrated with one another. In the embodiment shown, the bike GPSdevice 120 has a processor 122 coupled to a memory 124, a GPS receiver126, a wireless communication unit 128, sensors 130, a display 136, abattery management unit 138, a battery 144, and an alarm unit 146. Invarious embodiments, a processing engine is formed by the processor 122,the memory 124, and the contents of the memory 124, with the processorexecuting software resident in the memory 124. The processing engine, ora processing device, could include firmware, hardware, and software, invarious combinations. In some embodiments, the processing engine, theprocessor 122, or a processing device is integrated with one or more ofthe remaining components, e.g., the GPS receiver 126, the wirelesscommunication unit 128, a sensor 130, the battery management unit 138,or the alarm unit 146. For example, two or more components could becombined onto a single integrated circuit or a multichip module.Functions performed by the processing engine are further describedbelow, in context of interactions among the components and variousfeatures.

The GPS receiver 126 is coupled to a GPS antenna 132, which receives GPSdata from the GPS satellites 110. This GPS data is processed by the GPSreceiver 126 to produce the position coordinates. The processor 122,which is coupled to the GPS receiver 126, can access the positioncoordinates and store them in the memory 124, and/or further process theposition coordinates in order to perform various functions.

In various embodiments, the wireless communication unit 128 has one ormore antennas 134, one or more receivers, and one or more transmitters,or one or more transceivers. For example, the wireless communicationunit 128 could include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver, forcoupling to a cellular network, a wireless local area network (WLAN)such as Wi-Fi, a Bluetooth network, and/or a bike area network. In oneembodiment, the wireless communication unit 128 communicates (i.e.,transmits and/or receives) via a cellular telephonic network using amachine-to-machine protocol, which is generally less expensive thanconsumer voice and data plans. In one embodiment, the wirelesscommunication unit 128 can switch between communicating via a cellularnetwork and communicating via a wireless local area network, so as totake advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots. In some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication unit 128 can communicate with other wireless devices on abicycle using a bike area network. In other embodiments, the wirelesscommunication unit 128 can communicate with Bluetooth devices, using aBluetooth network. In another embodiment, the wireless communicationunit 128 can communicate with other wireless devices in a wireless meshnetwork, e.g., by using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, or other appropriatedevices and protocols. In one embodiment, the wireless communicationunit 128 arbitrates among multiple communication paths, devices andprotocols, according to signal strength, cost of using a path,availability, type of information, or other factors appropriate to thecommunication. Arbitration could include an auto wakeup function upondetection of public Wi-Fi or other communication path.

In various embodiments, the sensors 130 could include variouscombinations of the following types of sensors. An accelerometer couldprovide acceleration data relating to acceleration in one, two or threedimensions. A movement sensor could provide data regarding movementgenerally or in specific directions or dimensions. For example, themovement sensor could be as simple as a ball-based tilt switch or aspring-loaded weight and a contact switch, or as complex as amicro-machined device with strain gauges and amplifiers and so on. Anangle sensor could detect tilting or leaning of the bicycle. In someembodiments an accelerometer or gyroscope (or a combined device) coversall possibilities of sensors for position and movement, A signalstrength sensor could detect the strength of the GPS signal or awireless signal. An air quality sensor could detect various pollutantsor other measures of air quality. In some embodiments a gyroscope, whichcould be laser-based, solid-state, mechanical or some combinationthereof, could detect angular displacement in various axes, directionsand dimensions. In alternative embodiments the accelerometer/gyroscopeis a single Application Specific Integrated Circuit. An altimeter couldprovide data for tracking altitude. A tamper sensor could includevarious switches mounted for detection of opening of the case or housingof the bike GPS device 120, or removal of the bike GPS 120 from thebicycle or other human-powered vehicle. The tamper sensor could alsoinclude a proximity sensor, for detecting presence of an intruder.

A display 136 could be integrated with a case or housing of the bike GPSdevice 120, integrated with a frame of the bicycle, or mounted to thebicycle in a location differing from the mounting of the bike GPS device120, for example on the frame or on the handlebars. The display 136could be connected wirelessly to the bike GPS device 120, for exampleusing the bike area network, or could connect via wires to the bike GPSdevice 120. In some embodiments, the display 136 is integral with thebike GPS device 120, and in other embodiments, the display 136 isconsidered external to, or an accessory to, the bike GPS device 120. Theprocessing engine could employ the display 136 for various userinterfaces, such as graphical user interfaces or text-based userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the display 136 includes a touchscreen.

The battery management unit 138 manages the battery 144, and togetherthese provide power for the various electrical and electronic componentsof the bike GPS device 120. In some embodiments, the battery 144 can becharged via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port 140 of the batterymanagement unit 138. In some embodiments, the battery 144 can be chargedvia a power supply 142, which can be coupled to a hub dynamo 150. Insome embodiments, the power supply 142 can be coupled to energyharvesting devices, which could include a device harvesting energy fromfoot pressure on each bicycle pedal, or a generator or dynamo coupled tothe bicycle wheel, pedal, cranks, or to other portions of the bicycle.The power supply 142 could be coupled to a solar panel, a small windmillgenerator, or other alternative energy devices. The power supply 142could be coupled to a fuel cell, or an external battery, in someembodiments. Some bicycles may be equipped with an electric system forelectric shifters and/or lights, and embodiments of the power supply 142could hook into such an electric system, e.g., by a charging plug. Infurther embodiments, the battery management unit 138 could managelighting, such as a headlight, and/or taillight, and could adjustlighting based on the available amount of energy in the battery andambient light conditions 144. For example, the battery management unit138 could provide a “get home light” control of the headlight and/ortaillight, dimming, modulating or flashing one or both of these toconserve battery energy.

The alarm unit 146 provides an audible and/or visible indication that analarm situation is occurring. In some embodiments, the alarm unit 146 iscoupled to a buzzer 148, to produce an alarm sound. The alarm unit 146could be configured or programmed to produce an alarm sound unique toeach bike GPS device 120, or personalized for the user, a group ofbicycles, or a fleet of bicycles. For example, an alarm wave form fileor other arrangement of data could be downloaded through the wirelesscommunication unit 128 into the memory 124, then played back via theprocessor 122, through the alarm unit 146, and out via the buzzer 148.In further embodiments, the alarm unit 146 could activate a flashinglight, or physical impediments to theft, e.g., activating the bicyclebrakes, issuing an electric shock or rendering gear shifting inoperable.

FIG. 1C is a perspective view of a wireless key fob 160, which activatesand deactivates an alarm function or other functions of the bike GPSdevice 120 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. In various embodiments, the wireless keyfob 160 or other wireless handheld device could operate via a Bluetoothnetwork, and communicate to the wireless communication unit 128, orcould operate via another wireless channel, protocol or device, to issuecommands to activate or deactivate the alarm function or otherfunctions. The key fob could act as a proximity sensor to automaticallyactivate or deactivate functions. Various buttons 162, 164, 166, 168 onthe wireless key fob 160 could perform fixed or programmable functions.A wireless handheld device could include an embodiment of the wirelesskey fob 160 that lacks the key ring but otherwise has similar featuresand functions, or is in some other shape. In some embodiments, awireless handheld device could include a cell phone or other cellulartelephonic device.

For example, a first button 162 of the wireless key fob 160 couldactivate a geo-fencing function of the bike GPS device 120. A secondbutton 164 could deactivate the geo-fencing function. A third button 166could activate a tracking function of the bike GPS device 120. Trackingcould be turned off by pressing the same third button 166, or bypressing the second button 164, or by another mechanism. A fourth button168 could activate the alarm unit 146, e.g., as a panic button. Thebuttons 162, 164, 166, 168 could be reprogrammed by downloadingconfiguration information through the wireless communication unit 128 tothe memory 124 of the bike GPS device 120.

With reference to FIGS. 1A-1C, various functions and features can beimplemented in embodiments of the bike GPS 120. These functions andfeatures can operate in just the bike GPS device 120 alone, or in thebike GPS device 120 in combination or cooperation with a cellulartelephonic device such as the cell phone 176, a server such as the cloudserver 114, and/or the user device 118.

One function the system described herein is capable of executing is totrack a path 170 of a bicycle 102. The path 170 as shown in FIG. 1A isreduced in size for purposes of illustration. The processor 122 couldread in position coordinates from the GPS receiver 126, and store aseries of these position coordinates in the memory 124, or relay theposition coordinates via the wireless communication unit 128 to the cellphone 176, the cloud server 114, or a user device 118. The connection tothe global communication network 112 could be made via the cellulartelephonic network 108, e.g., using a portal, or via a wireless localarea network such as Wi-Fi, e.g., at a Wi-Fi hotspot coupled to theInternet. Tracking could be initiated manually, for example by the userpressing a button coupled to the processor 122, touching a touchscreenof the display 136, or sending a command via a wireless device and thewireless communication unit 128. Or, tracking could be initiatedautomatically, for example by having a movement sensor, anaccelerometer, or a gyro, or a change in GPS-based position coordinates,trigger, via the processor 122, a start of a tracking processimplemented by the processing engine. Tracking could be initiated byturning on the bike GPS device 120, in some embodiments, with positioncoordinates gathered at idle discarded. In some embodiments, eachposition coordinate is accompanied by a timestamp, so that the pathtracking function can provide a record of position and time. Speed orvelocity can be calculated, so that the tracking could be displayedalong with color coding or other coding indicating speed or velocity aswell as position. These calculations and display renderings could beperformed by the processor 122 locally to the bike GPS device 120, forpresentation on the display 136 or sending to a network, or could becalculated by the cell phone 176, the cloud server 114, or the userdevice 118.

One function is to provide geo-fencing 172, for example for theftprevention. In theft prevention, the user would activate the geo-fencing172 function, by employing the wireless key fob 160 or by a mechanismsimilar to activation of tracking. The processor 122 would read from theGPS receiver 126 the present location of the bike GPS device 120 andbicycle to which the device is attached, and derive position coordinatesfor a circular radius or other shaped boundary around the bike GPSdevice 120. This boundary could be larger or smaller than shown asgeo-fencing 172 in FIG. 1A, and may depend upon resolution of GPScoordinates and accuracy of the GPS receiver 126. The processor 122would then monitor the location of the bike GPS device 120, and comparethis location to the established position coordinates for the boundary.If the location of the bike GPS device 120 is not within this boundary,the processor 122 can conclude that the bike GPS 120 and the bicycle areoutside of the geo-fencing 172. Under such circumstances, the processor122 can then activate the alarm unit 146 and/or send an alarmnotification via the wireless communication unit 128 to any of thenetworks or devices discussed above regarding tracking.

Various further functions relating to geo-fencing can be devised. Forexample, multiple geo-fencing zones can be created, based on positioncoordinates from the bike GPS device 120 or from a map. A user couldspecify a home address as one such geo-fencing zone, and apply thistowards theft prevention functions. A fleet owner could specify abusiness address as a center of a geo-fencing zone, or draw a largerboundary on a map for establishing limits of where rental bicycles areallowed to go. Another use of geo-fencing is tethering. For example, aparent could establish a geo-fencing around a current positioncoordinate of the bicycle which the parent is riding (i.e., a moving orrelative geo-fencing). The cloud server 114 could track the currentposition coordinate of the parent's bicycle, with the movinggeo-fencing, and also track the current position coordinate of a child'sbicycle, from a bike GPS device 120 attached to the child's bicycle. Ifthe cloud server 114 detects that the current position coordinate of thechild's bicycle is outside of the moving geo-fencing, i.e., the childand bicycle have strayed too far away from the parent and bicycle, thecloud server 114 could respond by sending a text message to a cell phone176 of the parent, or another notification as readily devised.Variations of moving geo-fencing, and tracking in general, could beapplied to group rides or buddy rides, or bicycle races.

One function is to provide sensor data and interpretation, for examplefor various types of monitoring and tracking. Inputs from anaccelerometer, a movement sensor, an angle sensor, a gyro, or analtimeter could be read in by the processor 122, which could performvarious calculations and then store or transmit the raw or processedinformation via the wireless communication unit 128 to any of thenetworks or devices discussed above regarding tracking. Or, theprocessor 122 could perform renderings and send output to the display136. For example, a detailed animation rendering of the motion of thebicycle could be presented, e.g., as an overlay to the path-tracking.This can include angle information such as tilt or yaw of the bicycle.Sensors could be calibrated for different mountings or locations of thebike GPS device 120, e.g., on differing frame members of the bicycle.Information from the sensors could be processed to guard against theft.For example, if the user has not activated tracking, or has activated analarm function, the processor could interpret motion of the bicycle asindicative of a theft event. This could trigger an alarm, via the alarmunit 146, or transmission of event information via the wirelesscommunication unit 128 as above. Motion detection could operate incombination with geo-fencing, or independent of it, for theft preventionor other purposes.

Another function is to provide performance tracking or information. Forexample, various sensors could track rate of pedaling, steepness ofascent or descent, altitude changes, distance and time (or speed orvelocity), and the processor 122 could derive calories consumed, amountof energy produced by the rider, recommendations for water stops, reststops, or interval training, and comparisons to previous rides. Asabove, these trackings or calculations could be performed in the bikeGPS device 120, or the information could be relayed wirelessly asdescribed in the tracking function, for calculation or tracking at aserver, e.g., the cloud server 114, and/or on various devices. Oneexample would be to combine altitude information from an altimeter (oneof the sensors 130), with position coordinates from the GPS receiver126, for three-dimensional path tracking, e.g. of bicycle rides in hillor mountain territory.

Various further functions, combining aspects of the above descriptions,are readily devised in accordance with the teachings disclosed herein.For example, readings from air quality sensors (of the sensors 130) fromone or more bike GPS devices 120 could be transmitted along withposition coordinates via the wireless communication units 128, to thecloud server 114. This would allow ongoing pollution and air qualitymonitoring along popular bicycle paths or other routes, which could bedisplayed as an overlay to a map. Bicyclists on a group ride could keeptrack of straggling riders and arrange to wait for them, using avariation of geo-fencing and communicating via a wireless mesh networkor via a cellular telephonic network 108. Bicycle rider traffic patternscould be monitored. The path or location of a stolen bicycle could bedetermined. The path or location of bicycles loaned or rented out from afleet can be determined. Carbon offsets can be determined. Metrics thatcan be derived from the GPS-based position coordinates and sensor datainclude, but are not limited to, calories, distance traveled, carbonoffset, paths, speed, time, elevation, reports, maps, and diagnostics.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an embodiment of the bike GPS device120 attached to a water bottle mount 206 of a bicycle frame 204. Thewater bottle mount 206 holds a water bottle 208, which is removable forquenching thirst of a rider. In the embodiment shown, the bike GPSdevice 120 fits between the water bottle 208 and the bicycle frame 204,when the water bottle 208 is in place in the water bottle mount 206.Various versions of water bottle mounts 206 and cases for the bike GPSdevice 120 are readily devised, to fit various bicycle frames 204. Forexample, some bicycle frames 204 are equipped with threaded lugs, towhich regular water bottle mounts are readily attached, e.g., withthreaded fasteners. Other bicycle frames 204 lack these threaded lugs,and other types of water bottle mounts have clamps or other fittings forattaching to such bicycle frames 204. The bike GPS device 120 couldattach first to the bicycle frame 204, with the water bottle mount 206then attaching to the bike GPS device 120. Or, the water bottle mount206 could attach to the bicycle frame 204, sandwiching the bike GPSdevice 120 between the water bottle mount 206 and the bicycle frame 204.The water bottle mount 206 could attach to the bicycle frame 204, andthe bike GPS device 120 could attach to the water bottle mount 206, andso on. Generally, in variations of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, ahousing of the bike GPS device 120 attaches to the frame 204 of thebicycle, for example by attaching to a water bottle mount, and a waterbottle can be attached to the housing, such as by securing the waterbottle to the water bottle mount. In some embodiments, the water bottlemount is integrated with the bike GPS device 120, and in someembodiments the water bottle mount is integrated with the bicycle frame204.

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of an in-frame mounting of an embodimentof the bike GPS device 120, featuring a hatch 220. This embodiment makesuse of a modification to the bicycle frame 204, which could be includedin a manufacturing process of a bicycle, or performed as an aftermarketmodification of the bicycle. Here, the bike GPS device 120 is installedinside the frame 204, for example inside a cross tube or a down tube ofthe bicycle. A hatch 220 can open for access to the bike GPS device 120,and close to seal the bike GPS device 120 inside and protect from rainand other weather conditions. For example, there may be a seal aroundthe edge of the hatch 220 or around the otherwise exposed edges of theframe 204 to which the hatch 220 contacts. In the embodiment shown, thebike GPS device 120 includes an integral display 136. Furtherembodiments may lack the display 136. The hatch 220 could be made of anoptically transparent material, or an optically translucent or opaquematerial. In any case, the hatch 220 should be made of a material havingradiowave transparency, so that the wireless communication to and fromthe bike GPS device 120 is possible. The hatch 220 could be considered aportion of the bicycle frame 204.

FIG. 2C is a perspective view of a further embodiment of an in-framemounting of the bike GPS device 120. Here, the bike GPS device 120 isinstalled in a portion of the frame having radio transparency. Forexample, a tubular section 224 of optically transparent and radiowavetransparent material could be spliced into the frame 204, sealing a bikeGPS device 120 in place. Fiberglass and other nonmetallic, compositematerials may be suitable for such a material, for part of a bicycleframe or even an entire bicycle frame. Access to the bike GPS device120, for example for charging, could be arranged through one or moreholes drilled through the tubular section 224. Or, the bike GPS device120 could have a small solar panel, and be completely sealed. Furthermechanisms for accessing the bike GPS device 120 in order to charge,service or replace the device, such as by sliding the device furtherdown the tube to an access port, are readily devised in accordance withthe teachings herein. Inductive charging could also be applied.

FIG. 3 is a front view of graphical user interfaces 304, 308 used incommunication with the bike GPS device. A first graphical user interface304 is shown on a display monitor 302, for example as coupled to theuser device 118 of FIG. 1A, e.g., a computing device coupled to anetwork. Performance data, including position coordinates, is relayedfrom the bike GPS device 120 to the graphical user interface 304, by oneor more of the paths and mechanisms discussed above. For example, thedata could be sent via a Wi-Fi hotspot coupled to the Internet, to theuser device 118, or to the server 114 and then to the user device 118,or via a cellular telephonic network 108 and a portal to the Internet,and thence to the user device 118 or to the server 114. The graphicaluser interface 304 could display information such as calories burned bythe rider, distance traveled, average speed, maximum speed, totaldistance ridden including previous rides, distance for this ride, totalaltitude gained in this ride (e.g., the sum of all the hills climbed),net altitude gained in this ride (e.g., the difference between thealtitude at the end and the altitude at the start), and so on.

A second graphical user interface 308 is shown on a display of a cellphone 306. Performance data, including position coordinates, is relayedfrom the bike GPS device 120 to the graphical user interface 308, by oneor more of the paths and mechanisms discussed above. For example, thedata could be sent via the cellular telephonic network 108, or via oneof the above mechanisms to the cloud server 114 and thence via theInternet to an internet-enabled cell phone, and so on. The graphicaluser interface 308 could display the path 170 ridden by the bicyclist,along with the current location of the bike GPS device 120 and bicycle,overlaid on a map of the region, at various scales, along with time,distance and speed information. Either of the graphical user interfaces304, 308, or others, could display either of the presentations shown, orothers, as readily devised in accordance with the teachings herein.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of an embodiment of the bike GPS device120, featuring a case 402. The case 402 has a USB port 416, into which aUSB plug 404 can be inserted in order to charge the battery 144 of thebike GPS device 120. The case 402 also has LEDs (light emitting diodes)406, which illuminate for various functions, and a button 408, which canbe pressed to turn the device on and off.

FIG. 4B is a combination side view and top view of the case 402 of thebike GPS device 120 of FIG. 4A. Electronics of the bike GPS device 120are inside of the case 402. The USB plug 404 is shown inserted into aside of the case 402. The LEDs 406 include lamps that illuminate foreach of diagnostic, alarm, low battery, and tracking functions. In theembodiment shown, the case 402 has a length 414 of 259 mm, a width 410of 47.8 mm, and a thickness 412 of 20 mm. In this embodiment, the casehas a width approximately equal to a width of a bicycle frame tube, anda length longer than the width. The thickness of this embodiment isthinner than the width. These or comparable dimensions provide readymounting for the bike GPS device 120 to a bicycle frame 204, so that thebike GPS device 120 does not interfere with the pedals or other parts oroperation of the bicycle. Such a thickness, in the context of such awidth, provides ready mounting for the bike GPS device between a waterbottle 208 and the frame 204. Apertures 418, 420 through the case 402allow fasteners to pass through the case 402, in order to attach thecase 402 to the frame of the bicycle. In the embodiment shown, thespacing of the apertures 418, 420 is equal to the spacing ofcorresponding apertures on a water bottle mount, so that fastenerspassing through the apertures of the water bottle mount can then passthrough the apertures 418, 420 of the case 402, and these fasteners canthen attach to the threaded lugs on the frame of the bicycle at theframe location for the water bottle mount.

FIG. 4C is a perspective view of a populated printed circuit board 434of an embodiment of the bike GPS device 120. The printed circuit board434 is held inside the two halves 438, 440 of the case 402. On theprinted circuit board 434, a GPS antenna 422 and a cellular antenna 428are at opposed ends. Mounting these antennas at opposed ends minimizesinterference between the antennas. In one embodiment, the GPS antenna422 is above the water bottle 208 (see FIG. 2A), so as not to be in theradio frequency “shadow” of water. In further embodiments, antennasexternal to the case 402 could be employed. In one embodiment, the frameof the bicycle, or a portion thereof, is used as an antenna. A battery424 is located at one end of the printed circuit board 434, near andinboard of the cellular antenna 428. A GPS receiver 426 is mounted atone end of the printed circuit board 434, near and inboard of the GPSantenna 422. A Bluetooth module 436 is mounted approximately in themiddle of the printed circuit board 434, along one edge. Othercomponents mounted to the printed circuit board include amicrocontroller, an accelerometer, a battery fuel gauge and a chargingcircuit. In this embodiment, the microcontroller includes the processingengine.

FIG. 4D is a bottom view of the populated printed circuit board 434 ofthe bike GPS device 120 of FIG. 4C. A combination cellular radio andmodem (modulation demodulation unit) 432 is mounted at one end of theprinted circuit board 434, near the cellular antenna 428. A SIM(subscriber identity module) card 430 is mounted next to the cellularradio and modem 432. The SIM card 430 can be used with a GSM (GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications) module, or could be internal to a CDMA(code division multiple access) module. Variations of the cellularcommunication devices, and other devices for the printed circuit board434, and other types of printed circuit boards or mechanisms forconnecting circuitry, are readily devised.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram of a cloud service provider 522 communicatingwith users 502, 504, 506, 524, applications 510, 512, and devices 508 ofthe bike GPS device 120. With reference back to FIG. 1A, the systemshown in FIG. 5 can be implemented using the cloud server 114, with oneor more physical servers, or virtual servers operating in a virtualcomputing environment with physical device allocations to support thevirtual devices. For example, one or more of these servers could behosting the mission control website 520, and tracking various missions,e.g. Mission-1, Mission-2, and Mission-3 as depicted in the missioncontrol website 520. The mission control website 520 accesses a datastorage 514, which stores device data such as the position coordinates,sensor data, and/or processed data from the bike GPS devices 120. Thedevice data comes to and/or from the tracking devices 508, in the formof log data, the tenant applications 510, which can be started orstopped, and the mobile applications 512, which can be started orstopped. Data, including data streams, has flow balanced by a loadbalancer 518, and comes in through a server 516, such as a wirelessmachine-to-machine server configured to support wireless coupling to thebike GPS devices 120 using a machine-to-machine protocol for data. Usersof the system could include a superuser 502, a system user 524, amission user 504, and an individual system user 506, or multiples of anyof these. The data storage 514 could also store registrationinformation, and generated reports, maps and diagnostics.

In the system shown in FIG. 5, the tracking devices are instances of thebike GPS device 120. Each bike GPS device 120 has a unique ID(identifier) and SIM card ID, which could be pre-provisioned from thefactory in accordance with some embodiments. Once registered with theweb application, e.g., at the mission control website 520, the bike GPSdevice 120 can be activated. Once activated, the bike GPS device 120 cansend continuous trip information that is stored in the cloud, e.g., inthe data storage 514. A user can enable and disable tamper sensors inthe bike GPS device 120, and other sensors, features and functions. Datais stored in the data storage 514 along with user details. This data isavailable for the mission control website 520 to show various reports,maps and diagnostics. The server 516 acts as a communication server, andcommunicates with tracking devices, e.g., the bike GPS device 120,tenant applications 510, e.g., as operating on user devices 118, andmobile applications 512, e.g., as operating on cell phones 176. The loadbalancer 518 performs load-balancing of incoming requests. The missioncontrol website 520 presents data for different users as per theirprivileges. The website performs additional functionalities, includingdevice registration, in which a process builds a lookup table with thedevice-unique ID and SIM card ID, device activation, creation andmanagement of missions, and creation and management of individualsystems. Tracking is then associated with respective registrationinformation, by the server 516. For example, tracking information andregistration information could be stored in a database in the datastorage 514 coupled to the server 516. Missions could be provided fortenants that own a large number of bike GPS devices 120, e.g., a fleetmanager. Reports and diagnostics of devices belonging to that particulartenant are provided. Individual systems provide information that isderived from mission data and valuable to an individual. Tenantapplications could perform user management and validation, and contactthe server 516 to start and stop tracking of a device. The missioncontrol website 520 could be accessed through the Internet, using abrowser. In some embodiments, no client-side download components arerequired.

As an example of trip tracking, a trip could be started when anapplication programming interface (API) is called from a tenantapplication. The server 516 could call up the bike GPS device 120 tostart the trip. The bike GPS device 120 would then wake up and establisha connection to the server 516. Once the connection is ready, the bikeGPS device 120 would then send trip data to the server 516, eithercontinuously or at intervals. The data is then stored in the datastorage 514, for example in a database. The trip could be stopped whenthe user docks the bicycle back to a tenant station, or when the tenantapplication issues a direction to stop, to the API. A lost connectioncould be restored, with the bike GPS device 120 sending copies of anydata that was not previously received at the mission control website520. Various forms of error handling could be implemented.

FIG. 6 is a hierarchical diagram showing organization of a tenant 602,missions 604, 606, and individual systems 608, 610, 612, 614, applicableto embodiments of the bike GPS device 120. The tenant 602 couldestablish one or more missions 604, 606. Each mission 604 overseescorresponding individual systems 608, 610.

FIG. 7 is a hierarchical diagram showing organization of users of thebike GPS device. The superuser 502 has higher priority and/or accessprivileges than the user 524 or the mission users 504. In turn, themission users 504 have higher priority and/or access privileges than theindividual system users 506. The hierarchies shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 aresuitable for use in fleet management, group rides, bicycle races andother situations and organizations involving multiple bicycles and acorresponding number of bike GPS devices 120. For example, a missionuser 504, accessing the mission control website 520, could view on auser interface 304 (as in FIG. 3) one or more summary reports showingmission name, company name, number of devices, number of devices on aride, number of docked devices, etc. The mission user 504 could alsoview a map showing active devices, moving devices, docked devices,battery level, and individual device movement in real time. Clicking onone of the devices would then show the device ID, the bicycle number,the GPS or SIM card ID, the battery or “fuel” gauge, the speed ifmoving, the temperature of the unit, the time, and any errors such as ifthe device cannot be found or tracked.

In case of theft, an alarm notification could be sent to one or more ofthe mobile applications 512, one or more of the tenant applications 510,one or more of the individual system users 506, one or more of themission users 504, one or more of the users 524, or one or more superusers 502. The mission control website 520 could host images of bicyclesor bicycles and users (owners/riders), as part of the registrationprocess for bike GPS devices 120. For example, an alarm notificationsuch as a text message could be sent to the cell phone 176 correspondingto a registered one of the bike GPS devices 120. An alarm notificationand an image of the bicycle that was stolen could be sent to cell phonescorresponding to bike GPS devices 120 of other riders whose positioncoordinates show them to be in the vicinity of the stolen bicycle. Anyof such riders spotting the stolen bicycle would then contact thepolice. Email messages, with or without attached images, could be sentout to the owner and/or broadcast to other participants or registeredowners. Or, position coordinates of a stolen bicycle could be sent tothe police along with a photo of the bicycle and a request for recoveryof the bicycle. A user could access current location and pathinformation via any Internet connection, to locate a stolen bicycle.

Various applications can make use of position coordinates and otherinformation sent to a network by one or more of the bike GPS devices102. Applications could execute on a server, such as the cloud server114 or the server 516, or could execute on a cell phone 176 or a userdevice 118. For example, an application could track riding habits, usagepatterns, or bike performance. An application could track or manageaspects of a fleet of bicycles, such as a fleet of rental bicycles or acampus fleet for borrowing. An application could track or manage aspectsof ridesharing, in which individuals lend out their bicycles and expectto get them back. An application could provide an alarm service,contacting a bicycle owner through one of multiple telephone numbers oremail addresses and so on in the event of a theft or theft attempt. Anapplication could provide a registration service, for registering thebike GPS device 102. This or another application could also provide atheft recovery service, either for current and active members, or uponrequest (or payment of a fee accompanied by a request). A request-basedservice could reactivate an otherwise inactive bike GPS device 102,which would then respond with a current location coordinate, effectivelyanswering the question of, “Where is my bike?” A bike GPS device 102could be configured to feed information, such as GPS information andpower information, to a specified application, such as STRAVA™.

A registration application, executing on a server, could receiveregistration information such as name and contact information for thebicycle owner, an identifier of the unit, an image of the bicycle, animage of the user/owner/rider, and so on. Upon receipt of suchinformation, the server could then activate the membership, and providea user interface upon which the user can view tracking information. Oncea registration is activated, the server can create and manage missions,and create and manage individual systems, i.e., a registered user can,with the use of the server, initiate a mission or an individual system,which is then tracked on the server for viewing by the user.

A business method or model is applicable to embodiments of the bike GPSdevice 120. A business could buy large blocks of wirelessmachine-to-machine protocol communication from a cellular telephonicnetwork provider, and sell subscriptions to customers of the bike GPSdevice 120. The cellular provider would also provide a pool of reusableID numbers, which could be assigned to customers of the bike GPS device120 and reused upon cancellation of an account. The business could thencharge subscription fees, which could be recurring, e.g., on an annualbasis, and could charge for hardware sales. Inactive accounts could bereactivated, by charging a wake-up fee in some embodiments. Users of thebike GPS 120 could be offered a reduced price in exchange for receivingadvertising. This business method or model could be applicable to bikefleets, to individual owners, or to bike sharing.

It should be appreciated that the methods described herein may beperformed with a digital processing system, such as a conventional,general-purpose computer system. Special purpose computers, which aredesigned or programmed to perform only one function may be used in thealternative. FIG. 8 is an illustration showing an exemplary computingdevice which may implement the embodiments described herein. Thecomputing device of FIG. 8 may be used to perform embodiments of thefunctionality for servers or user devices in accordance with someembodiments. The computing device includes a central processing unit(CPU) 801, which is coupled through a bus 805 to a memory 803, and massstorage device 807. Some computing devices have a communication port813, coupled to the bus 805. The communication port 813 can be coupledto a network 815. Mass storage device 807 represents a persistent datastorage device such as a floppy disc drive or a fixed disc drive, whichmay be local or remote in some embodiments. The mass storage device 807could implement a backup storage, in some embodiments. Memory 803 mayinclude read only memory, random access memory, etc. Applicationsresident on the computing device may be stored on or accessed via acomputer readable medium such as memory 803 or mass storage device 807in some embodiments. Applications may also be in the form of modulatedelectronic signals modulated accessed via a network modem or othernetwork interface of the computing device. It should be appreciated thatCPU 801 may be embodied in a general-purpose processor, a specialpurpose processor, or a specially programmed logic device in someembodiments.

Display 811 is in communication with CPU 801, memory 803, and massstorage device 807, through bus 805. Display 811 is configured todisplay any visualization tools or reports associated with the systemdescribed herein. Input/output device 809 is coupled to bus 805 in orderto communicate information in command selections to CPU 801. It shouldbe appreciated that data to and from external devices may becommunicated through the input/output device 809. CPU 801 can be definedto execute the functionality described herein to enable thefunctionality described with reference to FIGS. 1A-7. The code embodyingthis functionality may be stored within memory 803 or mass storagedevice 807 for execution by a processor such as CPU 801 in someembodiments. The operating system on the computing device may be MSDOS™, MS-WINDOWS™, OS/2™, UNIX™, LINUX™, or other known operatingsystems. It should be appreciated that the embodiments described hereinmay be integrated with virtualized computing system also.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing a method of monitoring a bicycle, whichcan be practiced using embodiments of the bike GPS device 120. Themethod can also be practiced by a processor, using embodiments of theserver 114 (in FIG. 1A) or the server 516 (in FIG. 5).

In a decision action 902, the question is asked, is the registrationactivated? If the answer is no, flow loops at the decision action 902,until the registration is activated. As an alternative, the flow couldbranch elsewhere, for example to check on other registrations or performadditional processes. If the answer is yes, flow continues to the action904.

Once the registration is activated, a user interface is provided, in anaction 904. This user interface could be provided by a server whichmaintains the registrations and corresponding tracking of positioncoordinates and sensor data. Other aspects that could be activatedresponsive to receiving registration information and activating theregistration, include management of a mission, and management of anindividual system.

Position coordinates of the bicycle are generated from GPS data, in anaction 906. This takes place in a bike GPS device.

The position coordinates and sensor data are transmitted from the bikeGPS device, in an action 908. This could occur on a periodic basis, orupon detection of motion, etc. Some versions may lack sensors and wouldnot transmit sensor data. The transmission is via a cellular telephonicnetwork, or a wireless local area network, in the action 910. Which ofthese is applicable could depend upon available hardware in the bike GPSdevice, or the bike GPS could arbitrate if more than one path isavailable and hardware supports this.

The position coordinates and sensor data are received at the server, andstored in memory, in the action 912. This would generally be memorycoupled to the server, and could include RAM (random access memory),hard drives, solid-state memory, and so on.

The bicycle is tracked, in an action 914. This could include trackingthe current location, tracking a path on which the bicycle has traveled,tracking relative to geo-fencing, tracking on a map, tracking relativeto a fixed location, tracking relative to a variable location, trackingrelative to an agreement, a plan or a policy, as in ridesharing, grouprides or fleet management, and so on. Metrics are derived, in an action916. This could include calculations involving distance, time and/orsensor data as discussed above.

Geo-fencing is established, in an action 918. This could be accomplishedby establishing a central location of a geo-fencing zone and calculatingcoordinates of a perimeter based on the central location, or comparingnewly arriving position coordinates to the central location, withvarious geometries as zones. Circular or rectangular regions are likelythe simplest shapes for geo-fencing zones, but other shapes for zonesand calculations pertaining thereto are readily devised.

In a decision action 920, the question is asked, is the bicycle outsidethe geo-fencing? A determination can be made by comparing a currentlocation of the bicycle to one or more coordinates of the geo-fencingzone. If the answer is no, the flow branches back to the action 904, toprovide or update the user interface(s). If the answer is yes, the flowbranches to the action 922, to indicate that the bicycle is outside thegeo-fencing. This could include activating an alarm, sending anotification or a broadcast message, and/or indicating on the userinterface. After so indicating, the flow branches back to the action904, to provide or update the user interface(s). Geo-fencing could beactivated or deactivated, and the corresponding steps followed orbypassed as appropriate. Geo-fencing could be activated as part of atheft prevention or other routine. Geo-fencing could be relative to afixed location, as in theft prevention, fleet management, ridesharing ora group ride, or relative to a moving location as in electronictethering a first bicycle, equipped with a bike GPS device, to a secondbicycle equipped with a bike GPS device.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing a method for tracking bicycles, whichcan be practiced using embodiments of the bike GPS device. The method issuitable for use in bicycle fleet management, bicycle ridesharingprograms, group bicycle rides, and management of a plurality of bike GPSdevices, among other uses. A computing device, such as a server coupledto a network, can execute software programmed according to the method.Examples of implementations of the actions of the method are givenbelow, and are further available as described above with reference toFIGS. 1-8.

Users are registered in a hierarchy, in an action 1002. For example, aregistry could be established and maintained on a server, and users ofthe bike GPS devices could register by providing various pieces ofinformation. Passwords or other forms of authentication could beestablished and applied. The users, and the hierarchy, could includesuper users, to whom information regarding missions, tenants, theplurality of bike GPS devices, and the position coordinates from each ofthe plurality of bike GPS devices, is provided by the server. The users,and the hierarchy, could include global users, to whom informationregarding missions of a fleet of bicycles and the bike GPS devicescorresponding thereto is provided by the server. The users, and thehierarchy, could include mission users, to whom information regarding amission of the mission user and the bike GPS device correspondingthereto is provided by the server. The users, and the hierarchy, couldinclude individual system users, to whom information regarding anindividual system of the individual system user and the bike GPS devicecorresponding thereto is provided by the server.

Bike GPS devices are activated or deactivated, in an action 1004. Thiscould be in accordance with the registrations, i.e., when a newregistration is made, the corresponding bike GPS device is activated,and when a registration expires, a corresponding bike GPS device isdeactivated. GPS coordinates, timestamps, and/or sensor data arereceived from the bike GPS devices attached to the bicycles, in anaction 1006. As described above, these various types of data aretransmitted from each bike GPS device via a wireless coupling to anetwork, and are transferred from the network to the server, or from thenetwork to another network and thence to the server, etc. The GPScoordinates, timestamps and/or sensor data are sorted into memoryaccording to the registered users and the hierarchy, in an action 1008.For example, these could be sorted by the server into a memory coupledto the server. Data could be sorted as it arrives, or later in batches,or a combination of the two.

The bicycles are tracked, in an action 1010. Tracking could includekeeping track of current locations of bicycles, and/or tracking pathsthe bicycles make, i.e., keeping track of a series of positioncoordinates of each of the bicycles, with or without timestamps.Tracking could include keeping track of sensor data as a function ofposition coordinates and/or time. Tracking of a trip could be startedupon a request, e.g., via the server, or could be started in response toa GPS bike device establishing a coupling to the server. This couldhappen in response to an auto wakeup function of the bike GPS device,based on motion detection or geo-fencing. The tracking of the trip couldbe stopped in response to a request to stop the trip tracking. If thecoupling from the bike GPS device to the server is lost, the bike GPSdevice could store data, and send the data to the server upon resumptionof the coupling to the server.

Data analytics are derived, in an action 1012. As discussed above, manytypes of data analytics are possible, and these can be derived from theposition coordinates, timestamps and/or sensor data. For example, dataanalytics could relate to personal fitness, bicycle traffic patterns,bicycle rider habits, bicycle travel patterns, bicycle riding retailstops, wireless network signal parameters as a function of the positioncoordinates, and/or environmental conditions as a function of theposition coordinates. Data analytics could be bundled for access by, orsale to various individuals or groups, for various purposes such asself-use, corporate use, government use, academic use, or studies. Forexample, data analytics could be prepared for a social fitnessaggregation platform, traffic pattern analysis, municipal planning,location-based sales analytics, bicycle and accessories sales analytics,environmental analytics, cellular telephonic network analytics, and/orwireless local area network analytics.

User interfaces are provided, with access to tracking per theregistrations and the hierarchy, in an action 1014. For example, a fleetowner or operator, a mission operator, an individual contracting for useof a bicycle from a fleet, and an individual owning a bicycle and a bikeGPS device, could each have a specialized user interface and/or accessto an appropriate portion of the data on the server, i.e., access and/orinformation is restricted according to the hierarchy. A mission controlwebsite could be provided to group operations, such as fleet managementor ridesharing, from which to control registration of bike GPS devices,activation of bike GPS devices, management of missions, and managementof individual systems.

Maps are generated, in an action 1016. Maps could include a fleet mapthat shows locations of bicycles of a fleet, mission maps that showpaths of bicycles on missions, and individual maps that each show one ormore paths taken by a bicycle of an individual. The maps are based onthe position coordinates. Maps could show additional information, suchas information based on the data analytics.

In a decision action 1018, a question is asked, should there be a searchfor an active bike GPS device? For example, an owner could be requestingto locate a bicycle that has been misplaced or stolen. As a furtherexample, an operator could be searching for an active bike GPS device,in order to deactivate the bike GPS device, e.g., in a case of a lapsedregistration or lack of payment of connection fees.

If the answer is yes, there should be a search for an active bike GPSdevice, the location of the active bike GPS device is provided to a userinterface, in an action 1020. Other actions could take place here, suchas deactivating the bike GPS device, enabling or disabling selectedfeatures, and so on. If the answer is no, the flow branches to thedecision action 1022.

In the decision action 1022, a question is asked, is there a request fordiagnostic information? For example, the request could be for diagnosticinformation stored in a memory coupled to a server, e.g., as relating topast rides over a range of dates, or paths of the bicycle, previousownership of the bicycle, status of a registration, and so on. If theanswer is yes, the diagnostic information is provided to a userinterface, in an action 1024. If the answer is no, the flow branches tothe decision action 1026.

In the decision action 1026, a question is asked, is there a stolenbicycle alarm? For example, a current location of the bicycle,determined from the position coordinates received at the server, couldbe outside of a geo-fencing established as part of a theft preventionsystem, and this determination could act as an alarm. As a furtherexample, motion detection of the bicycle could be reported from the bikeGPS device, during a time in which the owner or operator of the bike GPSdevice has activated theft prevention, e.g., by a wireless key fobcommunicating with the bike GPS device, or remotely from the servercommunicating back to the bike GPS device, etc. The alarm could besilent, or could be accompanied by an alarm sound emanating from abuzzer attached to an alarm unit of the bike GPS device.

If the answer is yes, there is a stolen bicycle alarm, notificationsand/or alerts are sent, in an action 1028. These could includenotification to a user via email, notification to a user via a textmessage, notification to a crowd-sourced platform, notification tosocial media, an alert showing a bicycle location on a map, an alertshowing a real-time location of the bicycle, an alert to registeredusers of the plurality of bike GPS devices, an alert to a partnerdatabase, an alert to a police database, an alert to a communityassociation, an alert to a neighborhood association, and/or an alertlocalized to a geographic area. This could be part of a stolen bicyclerecovery system. After the action 1028, or if the answer is no, there isno stolen bicycle alarm, flow branches back to the action 1002, in orderto register any new users in the hierarchy. Flow could branch elsewhere,in further embodiments, e.g. to perform additional actions, or to repeator bypass actions, etc.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a method for bicycle theft preventionand recovery, which can be practiced using embodiments of the bike GPSdevice. The method is suitable for use in individual bicycle ownership,and also in bicycle fleet management, bicycle ridesharing programs,group bicycle rides and management of a plurality of bike GPS devices,among other uses. A computing device, such as a server coupled to anetwork, can execute software programmed according to the method.Examples of implementations of the actions of the method are givenbelow, and are available above with reference to FIGS. 1-8.

The upper half of the flow diagram of FIG. 11 operates at the bike GPSdevice, as shown in the bike GPS device entry point 1102. After theentry point 1102, in a decision action 1104, a question is asked, is thealarm function enabled at the bicycle? For example, a user couldactivate an alarm function of the bike GPS device by pressing anappropriate button on a wireless communication device, e.g., a wirelesskey fob. If the answer is no, then the alarm is deactivated in an action1106. The alarm may already be deactivated, in which case the actionneed not be repeated. Alternatively, the audible alarm may have beenactivated, in which case the deactivation turns off the audible alarm.If the answer is yes, the alarm function is enabled, flow branches tothe decision action 1108.

In the decision action 1108, a question is asked, is the GPS-basedposition of the bicycle outside of a bicycle-established geo-fencing?For example, the bike GPS device could be monitoring the currentposition coordinates of the bike GPS device and bicycle to which thebike GPS device is attached, and comparing the current location of thebicycle to position coordinates, stored in the bike GPS device, thatindicate a geo-fencing. This geo-fencing could have the shape of acircular or rectangular geo-fencing zone or boundary, or some othergeometric shape. If the answer is yes, the flow branches to the action1112. If the answer is no, the flow branches to the decision action1110.

In the decision action 1110, a question is asked, is bicycle motiondetected? For example, a motion detection sensor of the bike GPS devicecould detect that the bicycle is jostled, moved in a direction, ortilted at an angle that differs from the angle at which the bicycle wasoriented when the alarm function was enabled at the bicycle. If theanswer is yes, the flow branches to the action 1112. If the answer isno, the flow branches back to the decision action 1104, in order tocontinue monitoring for a possible theft situation.

In the action 1112, an alarm notification is sent to the server. This isbecause a possible theft situation has been detected by the bike GPSdevice, e.g., through either geo-fencing or motion detection. The alarmnotification is sent from the bike GPS device via a cellular telephonicnetwork or via a wireless local area network, as described in variousembodiments.

In a decision action 1114, a question is asked, is this a silent alarm?If the answer is yes, the flow branches back to the decision action1104, to determine whether the alarm function is still enabled. If theanswer is no, the alarm is not silent, an audible alarm is activated atthe bike GPS device, in an action 1116. Flow then branches back to thedecision action 1104, to determine whether the alarm function is stillenabled.

The lower half of the flow diagram of FIG. 11 operates at the server, asshown at the entry point 1118. In a decision action 1120, a question isasked, is an alarm notification being received, at the server, from thebike GPS device? If the answer is yes, flow branches to the action 1124.If the answer is no, flow branches to the decision action 1122.

In the decision action 1122, a question is asked, is the current bicycleposition outside of a server-established geo-fencing? For example, theserver could compare a current position of the bicycle, based onrecently received position coordinates from the bike GPS device, withposition coordinates stored at the server that establish geo-fencing.The position coordinates stored at the server could establish acircular, rectangular or other shaped geo-fencing zone or perimeter,based on previously received position coordinates from the bike GPSdevice. If the answer is yes, the flow branches to the action 1124. Ifthe answer is no, the flow branches back to the decision action 1120, inorder to continue monitoring for an alarm notification or a violation ofserver-established geo-fencing.

In the action 1124, a notification is sent to the user. The notificationcould include a location of the bicycle, and could be sent as a textmessage to a cellular telephone, or an email. The notification could besent to a crowd-sourced platform, or to a social media, of which theuser is a member. More than one notification could be sent.

In the action 1126, alerts are sent. The alerts could include an alertshowing a bicycle location on a map, an alert showing a real-timelocation of the bicycle, an alert to registered users of the pluralityof bike GPS devices, an alert to a partner database, an alert to apolice database, an alert to a community association, an alert to aneighborhood association, and/or an alert localized to a geographicarea. The localized geographic area could be based on positioncoordinates recently received at the server. After the action 1126, flowbranches back to the decision action 1120, in order to continuemonitoring for an alarm notification or a violation ofserver-established geo-fencing.

It should be appreciated that some embodiments implement one, both, orneither of bicycle-established geo-fencing and server-establishedgeo-fencing, with appropriate modifications to the above-describedmethod. For example, a user who has not paid a current registration feeor who opts out of coupling to a server could rely on using motiondetection at the bicycle and bicycle-established geo-fencing, and theaudible alarm, but forgo communication to the server, and thereby forgoserver-established geo-fencing. A base model of the bike GPS devicecould use motion detection at the bicycle but not implement geo-fencing.A deluxe system could provide the extra security of bothbicycle-established geo-fencing and server-established geo-fencing, tothwart a thief who manages to defeat the bicycle-establishedgeo-fencing, e.g., by acquiring a wireless key fob that can deactivatethe alarm function at the bicycle.

With reference back to FIGS. 1-11, various aspects, features,applications and systems relating to the bike GPS device 120 arediscussed below. It should be appreciated that various embodiments canbe formed from various combinations, and that an embodiment can have asubset, a variation of, or all of the features herein described.

The bike GPS device 120 has real-time wireless connectivity to thecloud. The bike GPS device 120 includes a cellular modem which connectsthe mobile device to the network. Some designs support globaldeployments with GSM and CDMA versions, or Wi-Fi versions which could beapplicable in campus bike sharing systems. This real-time wirelessconnectivity is a contributor to the theft deterrent and recoveryaspects of the bike GPS device 120. Bike sharing operators haveimmediate knowledge about their fleets, and individual bike owners don'thave to wait until the end of a ride to upload data. Data is collectedand archived in real-time. Since the coupling to the server is wireless,there is no need for cables or removing the bike GPS device 120 from thebicycle.

The bike GPS device 120 combines three functions: integrated theftdeterrence, GPS, and a performance analytics engine. A security system,featuring the bike GPS device 120 and a specially programmed server 114,516, has extensive user notification and crowd-sourced broadcasting. Ifa bicycle is stolen, the security system automatically notifies the userthrough emails and texts. Notifications can also extend to crowd-sourcedplatforms and social media to aid recovery—akin to an Amber Alert.Alerts include information about the bicycle, along with a map.Notifications can provide real-time information about the bicyclelocation. Alerts can be broadcast to other registered users/owners ofthe bike GPS device 120, national bicycle registry registrants, partnercompany databases (e.g., Strava or other bike analytics application forlarge numbers of users), and through other APIs to external databasessuch as local police departments and community and neighborhoodassociations. Notifications can be posted to user selected “opt-in”individual social media accounts such as Twitter or Facebook, or tocorporate profiles localized to specific geographic areas.

An array of sensors 130, including a gyro sensor, and various algorithmsin the bike GPS device 120 can be used to discern a general environmentfor a bicycle. One feature of the bike GPS device 120 is automatedwake-up based on motion detection. This promotes battery savings andease-of-use. When a rider hops on the bicycle, the bike GPS device 120detects this, and the unit can function without the need for a ridercarrying a cell phone or other external stimulus device. The bike GPSdevice 120 detects the difference between movement scenarios, such aswhen a bicycle owner places a bicycle on a car carrier or any motorizedvehicle, or moves the bicycle in an elevator. The gyro sensor and othersensors, and intelligent algorithms, are used for environmentidentification.

The bike GPS device 120 can mount at the water bottle site on a bicycleframe, since most bicycles have threaded inserts for a water bottlecage, and spacing and thread size is standardized. This mountinglocation is a factor for assuring optimal performance of the wirelesselectronics. This mounting location also provides a level of stealthsince the bike GPS device 120 is sandwiched between the frame and thewater bottle, with an appearance similar to a frame mounted bicyclepump.

One method to arm and disarm an alarm function of the bike GPS device120 is to use a wireless key fob, similar to an automotive key fob. Thiskey fob can be based on Bluetooth, and can be configured for automaticproximity triggering so that the bike GPS device 120 mounted on thebicycle automatically recognizes when the key fob, and therefore thebicycle owner, approaches the bicycle. The key fob can also be anaccessory that clips to the bicycle when the rider is using the bicycle.A multi-key fob can be used for basic commands such as to start and stoptracking and logging, to set or disarm the alarm, and to set the unitinto a “deep sleep” mode for battery conservation when the bicycle is ina safe location, all without the need for a cell phone with anapplication.

Bike sharing and fleet management are supported by the bike GPS device120. One system with a server and software capability is targetedtowards bike sharing and fleet management operators. A wide-area meshnetwork can be based on geographically distributed bicycles equippedwith the bike GPS device 120 system. The audible alarm feature of thebike GPS device 120 can be programmed with a unique tone pattern whichcould, with wide enough product acceptance, become an instantlyrecognized indicator related to bike theft. This would be analogous tothe particular whooping sound associated with car alarms.

The bike GPS device 120 has a form factor and electronics layoutoptimized for bicycles. The physical layout, form factor, and mountlocation are optimized specifically for bicycle use. The antennas 132,134 are placed above and below the water bottle to avoid signal blockagefrom the water in the water bottle 208. The bicycle-mounted unit isdesigned with a long and narrow form factor with physically separatedwireless functional blocks. The GPS receiver maintains high sensitivityin the presence of simultaneously operating relatively high powerco-located transmitters due to circuit partitioning and the printedcircuit board (PCB) layout. The bike GPS device 120 form factor is alsooptimized for insertion inside a bicycle frame 204. Global wirelesscompatibility is supported by a board design with load options formultiple cellular wireless standards.

Moving electronics inside the bicycle frame 204 is a differentiator forthe bike GPS device 120. Electronics inside the frame becomes apermanent part of the bicycle, making the unit available to the userwithout fear of theft or the requirement for attachment and detachmenteach time the bicycle is used. Moving the alarm system inside the frame204 hides electronics and minimizes visibility and potential fortampering.

The bicycle-mounted bike GPS device 120 can be recharged locally withpower derived from a dynamo hub generator 150. The bike GPS device 120manages the charging function, and can serve as a master control systemfor other bike mounted sensors and lighting as part of a bike integratedpower system. Core functions for alarm, location mapping and logging,and fitness performance analytics are further enhanced anddifferentiated by integrating an environmentally friendly, tetherlesspower system. A further embodiment could use energy harvestingpiezoelectric transducers or regenerative braking as part of a system toconvert mechanical energy to electrical energy for battery charging asthe rider pedals.

A bicycle frame made from a low dielectric constant, or windows withsame, supports embedded wireless applications. Wireless signals cannotpropagate through metal or carbon fiber, two materials traditionallyused for bicycle frames. By integrating low dielectric constant,non-conductive windows into the frame at strategic locations, anassembly is created that permits electromagnetic radiation to pass toand from the bike GPS device 120 inside the bicycle frame 204.

The bike GPS device 120 has a bike area network embedded processingengine with integrated wireless connectivity, sensor and powermanagement, and system management software. The bike GPS device 100 canact as the hub or processing engine for on-board sensors, wirelessconnectivity, and power management, and can also manage other localbicycle or body-worn sensors, electronic shifting, and lighting. Thebike area network can be enabled through Bluetooth, and can includesensors measuring heart rate, cycling power, cadence, speed, etc.

A bike frame integrated display can be featured. The electronics systemembedded in the frame can be mounted inside the horizontal top tube andcan incorporate a display seamlessly molded into the frame and facing uptoward the rider. The display can be a dashboard for the bike GPS device120, similar to the dashboard of an automobile. The display could makeuse of wider, more square horizontal tubes which are trend in onesegment of the bicycle industry.

A cloud-based bike area network embedded processing engine, withintegrated real-time wireless connectivity, sensor and power management,and system management software, is supported by the bike GPS device 120.The bike GPS device 120 further supports a stolen bike recovery system,based on the bike mounted cloud-based activity monitor and crowd-sourcedbroadcasting. The bike GPS device 120 further supports a cloud-basednational bicycle registration software with automated registration,broadcasting, programmable geo-zones, bicycle owner and bicycle photos.The bike registration and stolen bike recovery system includes acloud-based national registry for bicycle owners, featuring integrationwith the bike GPS device 120 system, electronic registration, and opt-indocumentation of the bicycle owner with bicycle ID and bicycle photos.Functional features facilitated through software, server, and databaseinclude: programmable geo-zones, crowd-sourced stolen bike broadcastingand management of bike GPS device 120 functions.

Auto wake up for stolen bike recovery is included as a way to locate abicycle even if the owner is not currently subscribing to a wirelessplan for the bike GPS device 120. The location could be identifiedthrough periodic unilateral queries from the server. Additionally, unitsequipped with Wi-Fi can be queried should the bicycle pass through anarea with public Wi-Fi service. Management of the frequency of queriesas a function of battery capacity and other factors such as cell servicesignal levels or whether cellular networks or Wi-Fi networks would beused, is controlled through customized software.

Social fitness applications can be based on the bicycle-mountedcloud-based bicycle activity monitor. A mobile app (application) can bedesigned to mate with the cloud-based bicycle mounted activity monitor.This app could include automated notifications and statistics, coaching,and route optimization prediction.

A multiple tier bike fleet management system includes software and ahierarchical multi-tier architecture. Fleet management involves toplevel (factory/enterprise), mid-level (fleet operator) and low level(individual rider) database management and user interfaces. Thiscombines previously noted capabilities and features into a fleetmanagement system.

A social fitness aggregation platform is supported. A backend server andsoftware capability combined with a mobile app can serve as anaggregation platform for social fitness monitors. For example, a singlesoftware platform could integrate data analytics from the bike GPSdevice 120, with personal fitness monitors such as Fitbit, Up, andothers, to effectively act as a super app for multiple social fitnessmonitoring devices.

Data analytics for traffic pattern analysis and municipal planning canbe based on the bike-mounted monitor and cloud-enabled data collectionsystem. A large amount of data can be gathered from bicycle riders,using the bike GPS device 120. A data analytics software suite could beoffered specifically for municipalities interested in using the data fortransportation planning. The combination of where the data originates,e.g., bicycles, how the data is collected, and its bundling for specificuse of municipalities is a contribution from the bike GPS device 120.

Data analytics for bicycle and accessory sales can be based on userhabits and patterns derived from a bicycle-mounted monitor andcloud-enabled data collection system. A data analytics software suitecould be offered specifically for bicycle and bicycle accessorymanufacturers interested in acquiring data about bicycle rider habits.This could offer a way for vendors to maintain a long-term relationshipwith customers, who can be alerted to sales or other targeted marketingopportunities.

Data analytics for environmental data can be based on a network ID andsignal parameters from bicycle-mounted monitors and the cloud-enableddata collection system. A data analytics software suite can be offeredthat leverages data originating from bicycles and is for sale toexternal customers. One data analytic category includes data aboutwireless network signal parameters as a bicycle moves through theenvironment. One data analytic category includes data aboutenvironmental conditions based on bike-mounted pollution sensors.Further software analysis could examine health trade-offs of fitnessversus pollution, and riding routes.

Data analytics for calculation and sale of carbon offsets could beoffered, with a software suite specifically for calculation of carbondioxide footprint and offset. Bicycle sharing and fleet operators canuse the data for financial compensation in the greenhouse gas carbonemissions offset market.

An embedded processing engine for optimal battery management and networkarbitration and optimal selection are offered by the bike GPS device120. Embedded software in the bike GPS device 120 optimizes whichnetwork to use, e.g., cellular, Bluetooth as through a cellular phone,or Wi-Fi, for optimal system availability, optimal battery management,and lowest latency.

Trip tracking, from the tenant application, could be started when astart API is called from the tenant application. The server would thencall up the bike GPS device 120, to start the trip. The bike GPS device120 then wakes up and establishes a connection to the server. Once theconnection is ready, the bike GPS device 120 sends trip data to theserver at intervals. The data is stored in a database. Once a user docksa bicycle back at the tenant station, the tenant calls a stop API. Thissends a stop signal to the server. The server then closes theconnection. During the trip, if the connection is lost, whether throughloss of wireless coupling or loss of a network connection, the bike GPSdevice 120 stores data until a connection can be restored. Once theconnection is restored, the bike GPS device 120 sends the data that wasstored to the server. Error handling could include setting of an errorbit in case of error, or could include error correction via use of anerror correction code (ECC).

Messages from the bike GPS device 120 could have various formats. Oneformat could be to send a unit ID as an alphanumeric, a timestamp fromthe GPS data, a latitude and longitude from the GPS data, a GPS fixstatus, a speed, an RSL (received signal level, e.g., of the wirelesscoupling), a pressure, e.g., atmospheric pressure as an absolute ornormalized, and/or temperature.

A server communicates with tracking devices, e.g., the bike GPS device120, and related client entities, e.g., tenant apps, mobile apps, fortracking and reporting. The server can activate a device, performcheck-in and checkout, and get data pushed from the device. The servercan apply an authentication mechanism to ensure data is from trustedclients. The server can be hosted in a physical environment, a virtualcomputing environment, or a cloud environment.

In the hierarchy of users, a superuser, including one type of superuserknown as an administrator, can create missions. Each mission could havea mission ID, a mission name, a mission description, tenant details, alanguage package, units, mission users created during mission creation,and pages for the mission users. The superuser can have access to theentire data collected by devices subscribed globally. The superuser canview or edit missions, search the missions, and add or remove missionusers.

An administrator can enter a unique ID for new devices, a SIM ID, and aphone number to create a lookup table for device activation. Theadministrator can also search for a device ID and review information ina table. The administrator can create superuser custom dashboards foranalyzing worldwide data. A super administrator user can enable accessof widgets for other mission users. Widgets could access, derive anddisplay the total number of devices, active devices, pending activationdevices, total miles, average miles, total time, average time, carbonfootprint, calories burned, cost savings in terms of money, etc. Thesuper administrator should be able to create and edit default reporttemplates, add or change the name of the report, define a unit for thefinal report, add or remove fields, customize columns and positions, addor remove filters that are available for an end-user to generatereports, such as mission, company, device status, date and time, batterygauge, and user type, and add or remove other users.

A system user can create a custom dashboard, pinning available defaultsummary reports and arranging them on the dashboard, or removing asummary report from the dashboard. The system user can access alldefault reports and reports for which the system user has privilege. Thesystem user can customize reports, setting available filters, removingand rearranging columns and so on.

Maps can be generated with various color codings such as for a trip withno issues, a trip with a lost connection, a docked bicycle, and a deviceerror, e.g. a battery critically low. Maps could start with a globalview, so that a system user can see all missions available. Each missioncould be represented as a colored dot, and hovering over one of the dotsshows summary reports with mission name, company name, number ofdevices, number of devices on a ride, and number of docked devices.Clicking on a dot zooms into a mission, which shows a sidebar withfilters for selections of what is shown in the map. The filters includeactive devices, all devices, moving devices, docked devices, batterylevel, and device errors. Maps show the fleet moving in real time. Mapsshow bubbles indicating moving and parked devices. Clicking on a bubbleshows a pop-up with details such as device ID, bike number, GPS/SIM ID,battery/fuel gauge with indicator of percentage left, speed if moving,temperature of unit, time, and any errors such as error details or ifthe device cannot be found or tracked.

A mission user can create and manage individual systems. This includesadding an individual system name and description, or deleting anindividual system. The mission user can create users for the individualsystem, adding username, email ID, and contact details for each user,and resetting a default password if needed. In a dashboard, the missionuser can see a summary report of a parent mission. The mission user canaccess mission maps.

The individual system user can see, in a dashboard, data under hisparent mission. The individual system user can view reports with dataunder his parent mission. It should be appreciated that various furthercategories of users in an hierarchy, and various arrangements ofpermissions, accesses, displays and capabilities for the users in thehierarchy are readily devised in variations of the above descriptions,per the teachings described in this specification.

Detailed illustrative embodiments are disclosed herein. However,specific functional details disclosed herein are merely representativefor purposes of describing embodiments. Embodiments may, however, beembodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limitedto only the embodiments set forth herein.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. maybe used herein to describe various steps or calculations, these steps orcalculations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are onlyused to distinguish one step or calculation from another. For example, afirst calculation could be termed a second calculation, and, similarly,a second step could be termed a first step, without departing from thescope of this disclosure. As used herein, the term “and/or” and the “/”symbol includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, “includes”, and/or “including”, when used herein, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof. Therefore, the terminology usedherein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only andis not intended to be limiting.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, thefunctions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures.For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executedsubstantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that theembodiments might employ various computer-implemented operationsinvolving data stored in computer systems. These operations are thoserequiring physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared, and otherwise manipulated. Further, the manipulationsperformed are often referred to in terms, such as producing,identifying, determining, or comparing. Any of the operations describedherein that form part of the embodiments are useful machine operations.The embodiments also relate to a device or an apparatus for performingthese operations. The apparatus can be specially constructed for therequired purpose, or the apparatus can be a general-purpose computerselectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in thecomputer. In particular, various general-purpose machines can be usedwith computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein,or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatusto perform the required operations.

A module, an application, a layer, an agent or other method-operableentity could be implemented as hardware, firmware, or a processorexecuting software, or combinations thereof. It should be appreciatedthat, where a software-based embodiment is disclosed herein, thesoftware can be embodied in a physical machine such as a controller. Forexample, a controller could include a first module and a second module.A controller could be configured to perform various actions, e.g., of amethod, an application, a layer or an agent.

The embodiments can also be embodied as computer readable code on acomputer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any datastorage device that can store data, which can be thereafter read by acomputer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include harddrives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-accessmemory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes, and other optical andnon-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can alsobe distributed over a network coupled computer system so that thecomputer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.Embodiments described herein may be practiced with various computersystem configurations including hand-held devices, tablets,microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. Theembodiments can also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a wire-based or wireless network.

Although the method operations were described in a specific order, itshould be understood that other operations may be performed in betweendescribed operations, described operations may be adjusted so that theyoccur at slightly different times or the described operations may bedistributed in a system which allows the occurrence of the processingoperations at various intervals associated with the processing.

The foregoing description, for the purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the embodiments andvarious modifications as may be suited to the particular usecontemplated. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be consideredas illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to belimited to the details given herein, but may be modified within thescope and equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, comprising: an electronic deviceconfigured to attach to a human-powered vehicle; and the electronicdevice further configured to perform actions, including: producingposition coordinates based on global positioning system data; couplingto a network via a wireless connection; relaying the positioncoordinates to the network via the wireless connection; and tracking onefrom a group consisting of: riding habits, usage patterns, and bicycleperformance.
 2. The device of claim 1, further comprising: theelectronic device configured to be powered by energy harvested from thehuman-powered vehicle.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein: a frame of thehuman-powered vehicle has a portion with radiowave transparency; and theelectronic device is configured to install within the portion of theframe.
 4. The device of claim 1, further comprising: at least one from agroup consisting of: an altimeter, an air quality sensor, a gyro sensor,an accelerometer, a tamper sensor, and a signal strength sensor, whereinthe electronic device is configured to process data from the at leastone from the group and relay the processed data to the network via thewireless connection.
 5. The bicycle electronic device of claim 1,wherein the network includes one from a group consisting of: a cellulartelephonic network, a wireless local area network, and a vehiclewireless area network.
 6. The bicycle electronic device of claim 1,further comprising: the electronic device configured to apply theposition coordinates to one from a group consisting of: geo-fencing thehuman-powered vehicle, and tracking the human-powered vehicle.
 7. Anelectronic device for a bicycle, comprising: a global positioning systemreceiver; a wireless communication unit; and a processing engine,coupled to the global positioning system receiver and the wirelesscommunication unit, the processing engine configured to communicateposition coordinates from the global positioning system receiver to anetwork via the wireless communication unit, wherein the electronicdevice is configured to attach to a bicycle, and wherein the electronicdevice is configured to track one from a group consisting of: ridinghabits, usage patterns, and bicycle performance.
 8. The electronicdevice of claim 7, further comprising: a housing, dimensioned to containthe global positioning system receiver, the wireless communication unitand the processing engine, the housing configured to attach to a frameof the bicycle.
 9. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising:a housing, holding the global positioning system receiver, the wirelesscommunication unit and the processing engine therewithin; the housinghaving a width approximately equal to a width of a bicycle frame tube,the housing having a length longer than the width; and the housingholding an antenna of the global positioning system receiver and anantenna of the wireless communication unit at opposed ends of thehousing.
 10. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising: awireless handheld device, wherein the processing engine is configured toactivate and deactivate an alarm function in response to one or morecommands from the wireless handheld device.
 11. The electronic device ofclaim 7, further comprising: a movement sensor, coupled to theprocessing engine.
 12. The electronic device of claim 7, furthercomprising: a tamper sensor, coupled to the processing engine.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 7, further comprising: a display monitor,coupled to the processing engine; and the display monitor integratedwith one from a group consisting of: a frame of the bicycle, and ahousing containing the global positioning system receiver, the wirelesscommunication unit and the processing engine.
 14. A bicycle electronicdevice, comprising: a global positioning system unit, configured toreceive global positioning system data and to generate positioncoordinates from the global positioning system data; a wirelesscommunication unit, configured to couple to a network; a processingdevice, configured to send the position coordinates to the network, viathe wireless communication unit; and the global positioning system unit,the wireless communication unit, and the processing device configured toattach on or within a bicycle; wherein the electronic device isconfigured to track one from a group consisting of: riding habits, usagepatterns, and bicycle performance.
 15. The bicycle electronic device ofclaim 14, further comprising: a housing, containing the globalpositioning system unit, the wireless communication unit and theprocessing device, the housing configured to attach to a frame of thebicycle, the housing further configured to attach a water bottle to thehousing.
 16. The bicycle electronic device of claim 14, wherein theprocessing device is integrated with at least one of the globalpositioning system unit and the wireless communication unit.
 17. Thebicycle electronic device of claim 14, further comprising: a battery,coupled to the global positioning system unit, the wirelesscommunication unit and the processing device; and a battery managementsystem configured to charge the battery via one from a group consistingof: a universal serial bus (USB) port, a hub dynamo of the bicycle, andenergy harvesting from one or more pedals of the bicycle.
 18. Thebicycle electronic device of claim 14, further comprising: theprocessing device configured to apply the position coordinates and anetwork coupling via the wireless communication unit, to one from agroup consisting of: bike sharing, fleet management, activitymonitoring, theft recovery, and tracking.
 19. The bicycle electronicdevice of claim 14, further comprising: an alarm unit, configured toproduce an alarm sound that is one from a group consisting of:personalized to the bicycle, unique to a group of bicycles, and uniqueto each instance of the bicycle electronic device.